


nervous habits

by nahyuckminist (minhoneyboysuga)



Series: ncity park mall [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 00 line and 99 line are seniors in high school, Crushes, M/M, Mall AU, Pining, build a bear employee!jeno, cameos from other groups for most bg characters, chanbaek is in there a tiny bit, chanyeol is only mentioned tho, h&m employee!renjun, hot topic employee!johnny, hyuck loves to tease mark, i forgot to tag their jobs oops, i just needed a quick name, im so sorry markly, johnjae are not in college at this moment, mark is always nervous, my poor son, seungmin from stray kids is there, so any other couples will be listed as they start to appear, subway employee!mark, the junho in this story is not related to any idols, this will be an entire series of oneshots, vape kiosk guy!jaehyun, zumies employee!hyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 09:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18133757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minhoneyboysuga/pseuds/nahyuckminist
Summary: Mark gets a job at subway in the mall; Hyuck loves to tease people.(the working title for this was "hyuck eats so much bread" if that tells you anything)





	nervous habits

**Author's Note:**

> based off [this thread](https://twitter.com/thevoid111/status/1105279808282521600?s=20) that my friend [mari](https://twitter.com/thevoid111) and i made together, its truly our collective brain child just as much as these fics are. also a big thank you to [neidy](https://twitter.com/changbinluvbot) who literally always listens to me crying over the plots for all the oneshots that will come after this and gives me ideas all the time. you both hold special places in my heart and i love you both immensely.

Logically, he should have seen this coming. One can only break so many Apple iPhone screens while showing customers the different styles before someone gets mad. Apparently, it took five phones to get his Best Buy manager angry enough to fire him on the spot.

“This isn’t the only reason,” Junho cuts through the monologue of panic running through Mark’s head at that moment. “You’ve also somehow managed to break three of our laptops that we have for show, one of which I don’t entirely understand because I was watching you just dick around on Microsoft Paint and it just- blue screened. We had to completely replace the model.”

Mark looked down, willing his eyes to stop stinging before looking back up to make eye contact and nodding.

“I understand, I’m so sorry. I don’t quite understand it either,” he replied weakly, voice not able to go much above a whisper.

“Maybe try working with food or something less… Breakable.” Another nod from Mark before he had to hand over his badge and other work tools to his now ex-manager and go grab his things from the break room. He quickly slung his backpack over his shoulder and shoved his phone into his pocket before leaving the store, unable to put up much of a fight seeing as he must have cost the store a lot of money to fix anything that was salvageable.

Letting out a small sigh of disappointment, Mark walked over to the cheap Walmart street bike his brother - Johnny - had bought for him, unlocking it with slightly shaky hands and rode the short ten minutes over to the mall.

Once inside, he headed straight for the kiosk next to the food court and Starbucks he knew his brother would be at. As he walked up, he saw Johnny, sitting in the usually open chair next to Jaehyun, the guy who actually worked at the kiosk. The latter was hitting his vape as Mark came into his line of sight but he said nothing, unable with the thick cloud currently polluting his lungs.

“Mark? Aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?” Johnny questioned, pure shock in his voice. It wasn’t like Mark to blow off work.

“Junho finally fired me,” Mark said a little bleakley and Johnny let out a sympathetic sigh.

“Did you break another phone?” He asked and Mark looked down at the tile floor in shame.

“I don’t know how, it just somehow slipped out of my hand and it only fell three inches onto the table but that was somehow enough to make half the screen completely glitch out.”

“How do you even manage to do that?” Jaehyun questioned with a laugh, vapor smoke settling around them and Mark coughed a little after a particularly deep inhale.

“I don’t even know, I couldn’t even defend myself at all.”

Mark sat on the raised platform that was behind the escalator, which thankfully was only two feet behind the chairs Johnny and Jaehyun were sat in.

“What am I supposed to do now? Dick’s Sporting Goods didn’t work out either but thankfully I was able to put in my two weeks before they could confront me about the mannequins I broke. They just didn’t schedule me those last two weeks.”

Johnny laughed slightly into his hand before Jaehyun reached over, slapping his best friend’s shoulder.

“Stop laughing at your brother’s misery,” he scolded and Johnny tried to compose himself but failed after a few seconds.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t get how you’re so clumsy,” Johnny said with a snicker. Jaehyun and Mark turned equally disgusted expressions on him in response and Johnny gasped in shock.

“How many times have you had to go to the phone repair kiosk to get your screen fixed because you refuse to get a damn case?” Jaehyun shot back quickly and Johnny sighed.

“It runs in the family, mom used to be the same way. Remember that time she dropped the entire pot of spaghetti the one and only time she ever allowed tomato sauce in her house?” Mark asked with a laugh and Johnny’s eyes lit up at the memory before turning slightly solemn.

“Ahh, those were much simpler times. The carpet at the edge of the kitchen tile never quite was the same color ever again,” Johnny said, melancholy and nostalgia thick in his voice.

“Hey Mark,” Jaehyun interrupted with a sweet smile and the pair of brothers turned to him in expectation. “If I give you my card, will you go grab me some Subway for lunch? I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving, you fucking stoner,” Johnny muttered and Jaehyun smacked him upside the head this time.

“Sure, will I need the pin?” The youngest asked as he stood up and took the card from older’s outstretched hand. Jaehyun shook his head.

“You shouldn’t, it’s just Subway. I’ll text you what I want.”

That was fair enough.

Mark walked up to the section of food court that had the big Subway sign above it and let out a sigh. He read over the order after his phone buzzed and after a few seconds of waiting, was greeted by an employee that looked to be about the same age as Mark, if not a little younger.

“Hi what can I get started for you today?” The boy asked and Mark let out a nervous giggle instantly.

“Uh, sorry I was sent here by a friend, let me pull up his text again,” Mark rambled nervously and the worker only laughed light heartedly in response.

“No problem, what kind of bread?”

Mark searched the text quickly after unlocking his phone - why did he even lock it? He needed it immediately after doing so. “The- Italian herbs and cheese bread? He said a foot long.” The worker nodded and turned around to reach into the giant heated box that held the different breads.

They spent the next few minutes with Mark awkwardly reading the text several times before giving the poor guy - whose name tag indicated his name was Seungmin - the next instructions. They made it to the end and before he knew it, Mark was face to face with a “Now Hiring” sign.

“You guys are hiring right now?” Mark asked and Seungmin nodded.

“Think you’ve got what it takes to be a Sandwich Artíst?” He said with a slightly serious expression and Mark laughed loudly.

“I mean I’m pretty desperate for a job, so sure, how hard could it be?”

* * *

 

 

Donghyuck had never been particularly fond of sandwiches. He liked them and he could eat them but he was much more of a chinese takeout or pizza kind of guy.

That being said, there was one thing that would absolutely turn Donghyuck into a sandwich lover. And that one thing was the new Subway worker that seemed far too nervous for such a high stress job as working in a mall food court.

He had noticed the new guy probably immediately, seeing as Donghyuck spent 90% of his free time at the mall (because where else would he spend it if not at his place of work?). He walked by the subway as usual, nodding to Seungmin - one of the guys from his high school - before noticing a very nervous looking guy standing next to his classmate. A very adorably nervous guy.

“Hey Min, how’s the sandwich grind going?” Donghyuck called over and Seungmin looked up with a blank expression.

“Hyuck, I told you to stop calling it that, just ask me how work is going,” Seungmin responded and Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

“Who’s the new cutie?” He fake-whispered and Seungmin smirked for half a second before muttering something about “hopeless dumbasses” but Donghyuck opted for ignoring the comment, especially after seeing how Mark’s cheeks flushed bright red. 

“This is Mark, play nice, he’s new to the food industry.”

“You decided to work in the mall food court for your first job with food…” Donghyuck trailed off and the new guy - Mark, Donghyuck liked the sound of his name in his head - widened his eyes in shock. “Well either way, I want a sandwich!”

“You… want a sandwich,” Seungmin started with that same blank expression and Donghyuck faltered, but only slightly.

“Yes,” Donghyuck replied simply with a nod and Seungmin laughed.

“I need to go grab more lettuce. Play nice,” he warned once more before leaving the two of them alone.

“So is this your first day?” Donghyuck asked as soon as Seungmin was through the door.

“Oh, u-uh, yeah! I got fired from Best Buy and this was the first job I could find,” Mark explained, relaxing a tiny bit as the conversation flowed a little naturally between the two.

“How do you get fired from Best Buy? Were you stealing their broken items and refurbishing them yourself only to sell for more money and now you’re on the run from the law?”

Mark blinked. Donghyuck smiled sweetly.

“You- I would not be working at a Subway if I was running from the law,” he started and Donghyuck laughed. “Also, I was more the person  _ breaking _ the items someone would be -” Mark paused to give Donghyuck a skeptical look over the glass guard. “- stealing to sell for more money.”

“Oooh what did you break? Did you drop one of the Macbooks on the ground in a fit of rage?”

“You have a vivid imagination. What kind of bread did you want again?” Mark asked and Donghyuck paused, a slow smirk taking over his face that he was sure Mark felt suspicious of. Rightfully so.

Donghyuck proceeded to ramble off some of the oddest combinations of vegetables and meats and cheeses - watching on in amusement as Mark scrambled to make the difficult sandwich. 

Tomatoes, jalapeños, and lettuce on top of tuna, sprinkled with a light amount of shredded cheese - “no thats too much, please take some off” - and then toasted only to add black olives and some of the ranch dressing. And finally, to top it all off, the smallest dash of salt and pepper - “it throws off the whole chemistry of the sandwich, it only needs the smallest dash.”

Mark looked almost like he wanted to puke as Donghyuck paid for the monstrocity his brain had come up with, and honestly Donghyuck couldn’t really blame him. He kind of wanted to puke thinking about eating the sandwich… In hindsight, he probably should have just ordered a normal sandwich.

“Okay, that’s going to be $7.84,” Mark said with a deep sigh of relief and Donghyuck handed over a $10 with a really poorly attempted wink. Mark probably thought he was just blinking but it was the thought that counted. 

“Keep the change, hot stuff,” Donghyuck said as he walked away, trying harder than he ever had to to crumple into a ball from shame at using that kind of name on someone he just met.

He could heard Seungmin coming out from the back room and a few louder than intended whispers about Donghyuck’s last comment. Well, death was an okay option. Donghyuck could work with dying of shame.

* * *

 

 

As it turned out, working at Subway was very hard. Mark applied and ended up with a job within a week, after which he spent most of that time profusely thanking Jaehyun for sending him to get him lunch. But, if Mark was clumsy with technology, he was somehow even clumsier with sandwich ingredients.

He couldn’t count the amount of knives he had accidentally dropped, how many times he’d accidentally cut the tomatoes a little too weird to be useable, the amount of dirty dish water he’s ended up splashing himself with after one of the food bins slipped out of his hands. And that was just the small stuff.

Actually talking to the customers while making their food was so much more awkward than Mark had ever expected it to be. He found he would tend to ramble whenever there was empty space to fill conversationally, and not every customer enjoyed that.

He wasn’t sure how Seungmin did it but the other managed to keep himself completely composed while speaking with even the angriest of customers, only showing how flustered he actually was internally by the redness of his ears, but customers typically missed that detail.

Even worse than angry customers though, in Mark’s opinion, were the customer’s with difficult orders. Particularly, one customer who seemed to have made it his mission to make Mark create some of the most atrocious sandwiches the latter had ever seen (seriously - tuna and turkey? And why did it absolutely have to be toasted with only the tuna and cheese on it before adding absolutely anything else? Cold turkey? Mark was about ready to demand answers).

“Mark Lee!” A slightly higher voice rang across the few feet the aforementioned customer stood from the store front.

“Hey Donghyuck,” Mark said with a tired expression, voice smaller than normal but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It had been an extra long lunch rush and he really wasn’t ready to make the slightly younger boy yet another complicated sandwich for the fifteenth time that month.

“You okay?” Donghyuck asked hesitantly but his smile was the same brightness as usual.

“Just- It’s been a really long day and I really don’t like making sandwiches but I have to be able to pay rent because I can’t just put that on my brother no matter how much he insists its fine and I just-” Mark took a deep breath before looking up and smiling. “I can’t get down about it, you probably don’t actually care about that. What can I get for you today?” He asked as cheerily as he could and Donghyuck looked concerned for the older. Mark couldn’t really blame him. 

“Just a six inch turkey sandwich on wheat bread,” Donghyuck said, no extra teasing comments or ridiculous demands. Mark paused for a few seconds, waiting for the complication, but Donghyuck seemed to get impatient and started egging him on.

“Come on, even my grandma could make this faster than you are right now, and she’s had a caretaker for two years,” he whined and Mark rolled his eyes. There was the Donghyuck he had come to know and enjoy being around.

It had been over two weeks since Mark started working at Subway but the younger boys charms had quickly grown on him, no matter how many less than friendly sounding comments they threw back and forth. 

Donghyuck ended up reciting the simplest sandwich order Mark had ever heard leave the other’s mouth and he was shocked when he wasn’t needing to type in double meat and cheese and just about every other option available into the register. It was a little suspicious but Mark decided to let it pass, seeing as Donghyuck seemed to really enjoy getting his sandwiches every day. 

Donghyuck went to a table not far from the storefront after paying for his food and calmly ate the meal, having grabbed some chips along with the small sandwich.

“He must really like sandwiches, he’s so adventurous with them,” Mark said dreamily one day a few days later while in the back cutting tomatoes, Seungmin pulling lettuce out of the bag and put it into the bins. He split the contents as evenly as he could between the two containers in front of him on the food prep table.

Seungmin stopped what he was doing before turning to Mark with one of the most incredulous looks the older had ever been on the receiving end of.

“You are the biggest idiot I have ever met,” Seungmin said blatantly and Mark pouted exaggeratedly.

“You could be nicer to your favorite coworker, y’know.”

“I hate that you’re right, but it’s only by default. You’re my only coworker other than our manager and the shift lead, and no way am I befriending either of those two.”

Mark nodded in understanding. Their management wasn’t the most… Professional, after all. Not with the way the shift lead - a guy named Baekhyun - was consistently harassing their manager - Chanyeol - whenever they were together. Not that Chanyeol ever actually did anything to get the other to quit his antics. Mark didn’t really want to know.

Mark left the conversation at that, but he continued to silently wonder what made  _ him _ a dumbass about Donghyuck having some sort of obsession with sandwiches.

 

* * *

 

 

Donghyuck had start dragging Jeno with him for his lunch breaks after Jaemin decided he was sick of eating sandwiches every day for lunch  after three months. He had lasted longer than any of them thought he would. Jeno agreed on the first try and Donghyuck had never been more thankful for his slightly older friend.

“I’m going to invite Injun, he hasn’t taken a break all day,” Jeno said before running over to the entrance of the H&M, seeing Renjun looking worn out and slightly grumpy.

“Hey Junnie, can you take your lunch break? We’re going to get Subway,” Jeno said with a sweet voice and smile to match.

Renjun physically relaxed as he looked at the other and turned to looked at the almost empty store.

“Yeah, let me tell my manager,” he said before running towards the back and the other two stood outside, texting or scrolling twitter to pass the time. Renjun came walking through the doors and Donghyuck and Jeno had to jog to catch back up.

“So you’re still being weird to Subway guy?” Renjun asked and Donghyuck whined.

“Injunnie, don’t say it like that.”

“I mean, you mostly tease him and he always looks like he’s about to combust. It’s a little weird,” Jeno said and Donghyuck turned to smack his arm in response.

“Listen, this is how you woo people nowadays, you gotta act like you’re not interested so they’ll be interested in you!” Donghyuck proclaimed before quieting his voice, the restaurant they were headed for now within hearing range.

“I don’t see how teasing him always is acting like you’re not interested, but go off,” Jeno said before Donghyuck shushed him.

There was a slightly longer line than normal and Donghyuck groaned. There was no way he could tease Mark if he was at his lunch rush levels of nervous.

“Dammit,” he cursed under his breath as they stepped in line. It took no more than five minutes before Donghyuck was telling Seungmin what kind of bread he wanted and the meat and cheese, opting for his usual turkey and provolone on wheat. Mark hadn’t seemed to notice Donghyuck was even in line as he continued to ramble to the woman and her younger son about how he preferred lettuce over spinach because of his brother while sprinkling the spinach onto the footlong sandwich in front of him.

Donghyuck let himself get a little lost in his thoughts while waiting for Mark to finish and be able to move onto his sandwich. Thankfully, the woman’s order wasn’t super complicated and she moved to the register quick enough and then Donghyuck was face-to-face with a very anxious Mark Lee.

“Hey Donghyuck, anything weird today? Throw anything you’ve got at me! I can take it! Though I haven’t really stopped shaking since two hours ago and I’m a little worried now,” Mark said in one breath and Donghyuck put a hand up to stop the older boy’s words.

“Lettuce, tomato, mayo, that’s it,” he said and Mark blinked before smiling gratefully. “Also, take some deep breaths, you’re doing great.” Donghyuck said encouragingly before Mark’s smile grew a little softer and he wrapped up the finished sandwich. Mark gave Donghyuck a little wave before he started asking Jeno was kinds of vegetables he wanted on his sandwich.

“Just the turkey footlong?” Baekhyun asked and Donghyuck smiled with a nod.

“Yeah, no chips today,” he replied and Baekhyun sent him a smirk before asking him to insert his card. Baekhyun definitely knew about his crush, not that Donghyuck really minded much.

The three sat at a table close enough that Donghyuck could easily talk to Mark when the rush died down. Usually he was able to time his lunches to the end of the rush but since he had to go with Jeno’s stricter schedule, they ended up right in the middle of it.

Donghyuck was about three-quarters of the way through his food when a very nervous giggle broke him out of his thoughts. He turned to see a really tall guy leaning against the counter, Mark’s face almost completely pink from blushing and Donghyuck felt jealousy flare up in his stomach at the sight.

“Injun, what the fuck? I thought you and Lucas were a thing,” Donghyuck hissed and Renjun was glaring daggers at the absolute tree man’s back while he continued to compliment how soft Mark’s hair looked.

“We’re not, I just have a stupid crush that needs to go away,” the younger teen responded and the three turned back to all glare at the two now standing at the register, rush having completely died down by now and Lucas was sliding a piece of paper back towards Mark that made the fire in Donghyuck’s gut go insane.

Lucas walked away only to send a wink to Renjun making the youngest turn red and look as if he were about to hiss at his crush in retaliation. Jeno put a hand on his shoulder, diverting his attention from the guy walking out of the food court with a bag of Subway.

Donghyuck would maybe have to do something about his crush. Maybe.

* * *

 

 

“So you think this will work?” Mark asked skeptically.

“Yeah, trust me, I just need to make Renjun a little jealous so he’ll come to me about his feelings. It works in all the movies,” Lucas explained, pretending to write his number down on some receipt paper.

“Those don’t seem like reliable sources.”

Lucas shrugged.

“It’s good enough for me, I can feel his glare on my back. Thanks for always being such a nervous wreck during the lunch rush, makes it easier to make u embarrassed.”

Mark made a noise of indignation before slapping Lucas’ hands away and handing him his actual receipt.

“Get out of here before I out you as the big softie you are,” Mark threatened and Lucas put his hands up in surrender.

“Say no more.”

Mark could have sworn he felt eyes tracking his every move and when he looked up, he saw Donghyuck glaring at him before very quickly moving his gaze to the remains of his sandwich. Weird.

**Author's Note:**

> tell me what you thought! i really love writing markhyuck, theyre so much fun. i can't wait for the rest of the fics for this series! also if you guys have any questions about some of the relationships (of any capacity) just let me know in the comments or my [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/minhoneyboysuga)! also you can find me on twt [@nahyuckminist](https://twitter.com/nahyuckminist) (my writing acct is [@minhoneyboysuga](https://twitter.com/minhoneyboysuga))


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